I shouldn't be surprised, and I cannot say that I really am. Tjhisha Ball and Angelia Mangum bodies were discovered in the very late evening on Thursday the 18th, and there has been little to no coverage about it. The best sources are blogs and magazines like Gradient Lair and Ebony.com. The local Jacksonville news mentioned it, but then quickly the tone went from concern to the very typical public persecution. Including using their mug shots from past arrests as the leading photograph for any articles about them.

This is something that has been mentioned in numerous pieces, so I won't go into great detail. But bottom line is, if a black person dies, you can bet your bottom dollar the media will go out of it's way to dig up mugshots, bad report cards, an angry neighbor, that church deacon who caught them smoking weed once... It's really tiresome, and completely irrelevant to what really matters. What really matters here is that two women had their lives snatched away from them, were hog tied together and left on the side of a Jacksonville road and no one really seems to care or further more, no one seems to know.

The tipping point for me was the article by Red Wedge Magazine. Not to discount what happened to Christy Mack at all, but the outrage about her assault was palpable.

Meanwhile, very few people know who Daniel Holtzclaw is or the egregious crimes he committed against numerous woman of color across the Oklahoma City lower income areas. Very few people know about the countless black women and trans women sex workers who go missing, are assaulted and are murdered and get little to no mention because... as I sadly pointed out to a friend of mine "If you're looking to get away with a crime, picking a BW sex worker is the best target." Look at how we betray the people we should protect.

We can't pretend that the scope media uses to view crimes against people isn't skewed in favor of those who happen to be Caucasian. We can't pretend that when it comes to a sex worker reporting a crime, the white and legal worker will be treated with a lot more compassion than the street level Black woman or the woman of color.

Through the efforts of @_Peech, myself and the other ladies of @Whorephobia have been working to get the info out to others via twitter and social media campaigns. As of right now @_Peech has been able to get a hold of both the funeral home in charge of the arrangements and the Jacksonville,FL Sherrifs Department. With the information she's gathered, we've decided to start a fundraising campaign in order to pay for the funeral costs for Tjhisha Ball and Angelia Mangum.

Update: Peech was able to get ahold of their sisters, and we've reached out to speak to them directly. In the mean time the funeral home director and gotten updates on the status of their services, costs, and family involvement. *I* suspect from the information relayed to me that one family has stepped back almost entirely and the funeral home is having issues contacting them in regards to the service. We are praying this is just a miscommunication between the funeral home and the family. #TjhishaBall's funeral is scheduled for this Saturday, 9/27, at 11:00am at Word Alive.